I almost forgot when I last took pictures with my camera.
To me, taking photos means discovering beauty in the mundane and something extraordinary to capture.
Finding beauty in the mundane used to come so easily, and I never hesitated to bring my camera along when I am wandering. Lately, though, I've been feeling a bit more self-aware about it. I have to admit that taking photos is much more enjoyable when I can be less conscious of what I do, just hiding behind the camera, going around places, and taking pictures.
I used to love wandering through the market, snapping pictures without holding back, but these days, I am too self-conscious about that. Isn't it odd?
I suppose this is where it all starts. Lately, it seems like more and more places are enforcing a no-camera policy. If you show up with a camera like mine, they often perceive it as professional equipment, even though I just have a humble prosumer camera—nothing too fancy. I suppose people don't always differentiate, but they tend to let it slide a bit more if it's a mirrorless camera—something I honestly struggle to understand.
Maybe I was just stumbling upon some type of wall with my hobby. I am unsure if I've fallen out of love with it, but it doesn't seem that way. Photography has always sparked new perspectives for me and taken me places. Yet, there are also times when I feel conscious about the limitations of using a consumer camera.
Unfortunately, when I managed to save enough money to upgrade, unexpected expenses took priority over it. That's probably why I also stopped taking pictures a lot lately; just feeling a little bummed about the whole situation.
Another huge realization was that I realized, "What's the point?" Sometimes, I wonder why I am taking pictures with my camera when there are smartphones that probably do it better than I do. I sometimes wonder if it's a skill issue or just a gadget issue, haha.
The good news is that my life has become a bit more settled. It allows me to start exploring new things again. I get it; sometimes, I struggle to be kind to myself. I've gone through a lot this year —moving between different provinces, dealing with family losses, and just some other shit I had to deal with. Everything starts to make more sense when I think about it that way. But I also realize I shouldn't be in this state for too long; feeling stuck and joyless isn't a great place to be. If this expensive hobby brings me joy, then so be it! Haha.
 | 𝘔𝘢𝘤 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘫𝘢 & 𝘤𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘶𝘳 . 𝘈 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴, 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘨, 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴, 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴, 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴, 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘖𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘯, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘚𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘍𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯! 𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘱𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦, 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬. 𝘈 𝘳𝘦-𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘰. |
I totally get you. My photography hobby has ups and downs too. It also has to do with the seasons for me. On the darker days that are arriving it's less attractive to go out and shoot photographs.
I have a mirror less camera myself, but I tend to shoot more with my smartphone. Modern smartphones can create really high quality pictures and you always have them with you. I see my photography has changed. I shoot whenever I see an opportunity to capture something interesting.
I hardly use my mirror less camera anymore since it takes more time to adjust the settings and chang er lenses. This can be annoying when you go for a walk with the family or friends, so I only take it with me when I go out to shoot things.
If you have no inspiration, joining one of the many photocontests could help. I create a weekly blog with all photocontests on Hive. I've also created a Hive Photographers Discord Channel.
https://discord.gg/dMep2wsKjc
It isn't a very active channel, but quite a few Hive photographers have joined, so there are a lot of people with the same interests.
That is also my problem haha. It takes a while with camera because you have to adjust setting, edit the picture with lightroom then upload it. So, sometimes I am like you when it's just casual outing, I wouldn't use my camera but stick to my phone.
I joined the server. I am not a fan of joining a contest hehe but I can get inspired when you're releasing a new prompt and maybe that'll give me inspiration to wander and take pictures. Also, it's amazing you're organizing such, hoping it'll get more active members.
It's not only my own contest, but the others can also inspire you to go out and shoot photos. The Qurator en HiveBrazil contest have new subjects every week too.
You don't even have to join as long as you get inspiration.
What did Mr Lennon say? "You may be a dreamer, but you're not the only one" :-)
I Hope you've had a great weekend Mac and fine shots. Keep wandering with the camera. Looking through a lens, the mundane often becomes magical world of wonder :-)
hahaha. I mean rainy season is here but somehow, I find them to be exciting.Looking back, around this time, usually the time when I am gearing up for an adventure. I hope you'll have amazing weekend as well Nathen and I hope the weather is pleasant :)
Hahaha. That's an interesting question. For me I have always relied on my smartphone to take photos since I don't consider photography a hobby for myself. But I will also admit that I have never used 90% of the setting in the smartphone camera app as well. Most of the time, I just point and snap. At the very most, I will zoom in our zoom out.
I sometimes still use the setting in my camera app hehe. I think they help elevate the picture but I mean if you have high-end phone with higher pixels, just a snap will do.
For a second there, I thought they were phone shots. I love to capture every moment that I can too and just save them up on my phone, reason I got a phone with really large memory space.. I used to have a camera too but I couldn't keep up owning one and I think one of my siblings got lucky to be its new owner. My belief? So long it makes one happy? And you ain't hurting one, go for it unapologetically.
hahaha see, smartphone these days could be better than the result of my prosumer camera. It's why I wanted to upgrade so bad but something else took more priority than this. You're right though,I overthink a lot sometimes,thing is I am not hurting anybody hehe and I shouldn't be so worried doing it.
I get ya... Smart phones these days are something else and overly expensive when you are getting a better upgrade.
Took me some years of savings and planning to get this that I'm using now. What is life without challenges right? Lol.... So long no one is getting hurt go for it and if by chance anyone feels offended, because I know humans can be funny sometimes, just apologize and move on. This exercise saves me a lot of panic 😅
I used to take all my photos with a semi-pro camera, but it was so heavy with the lens that I've started to have back issues, so I had to stop it. Now, I only use it with a tripod and my husband has to carry it around. But honestly, with the quality of smartphone cameras I don't mind and take majority of my photos with my phone. My back thanks me everyday 😁
Your back definitely thanked you and yes, smartphone these days can be awesome. I think higher end samsung and iphone are great products when it comes to taking photo.
It's always good to reinvent yourself and assimilate situations with a distraction, and photography is to go into that almost silent world of images, having a professional camera is a luxury, I think that's why many times you feel that lens of people watching, hahahahahah.
However, it is a window of possibilities to a new beginning, the pictures were very beautiful, I especially loved the roof with that tree, I think there was a very strong memory in me.
Mine isn't even professional hehe and I guess you're right. I mean it's quite rarity people go around with a bulky camera. They'll think you're either a journalist or photographer while you could be a hobbyist like me.
Thank you so much for liking that. It's nothing extraordinary hehe
Hehehehehe you always write very entertaining and interesting topics, so I take my best time to read them calmly, I like how despite the cultural diversity we are always in sync. hahahahaha .🤗😊
Dealing with family loses is the hardest part of being wise in life. But once you did it everything will be okay.
Go for your dream,expensive but worth it because life is life, just once. Before you regret to not achieve it.
I hope you have better feeling. @macchiata
Greetings.
You're right! losing any family member isn't always easy. Often death teaches us of that part too where you just have to do whatever you want because life is life and we'll never know when it's going to be taken away from us.
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